Compensating gear-wheel for motor-cars.



No. 692,!77. Patented Ian. 28, I902.

' F. BURGER.

COMPENSATING GE AR'WHEEL FOR MOTOR CARS.

(Application filed July 6, 1899.)

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- UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ BURGER, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF TI-IREE-FOURTI-IS TOHENRY M. WILLIAMS, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA.

COM PENSATING GEAR-WHEEL FOR MOTOR-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,177, dated January28, 1902.

' Application filed July 6, 1399. Serial No. 722,947. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- 1

Be it known that I,FRANZ BURGER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort Wayne, in the county of Allen and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CompensatingGear-Wheels for Motor-Oars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to compensating gear-wheels adapted moreespecially for use in connection with electric-motor cars; and it hasfor its object to improve the construction of such wheels in order toprevent rumbling and compensate for wear; and to these ends theinvention consists in a gear-wheel embodying the features ofconstruction and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter moreparticularly set forth.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side View of two wheels, one in advance of the other, thefront one being par tially broken away to show the other wheel, with oneof the compensating springs. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectionof the two wheels mounted on the shaft,-showing a compensating spring indotted lines.

In designing gear-wheels and in order to obtain smooth running it iscustomary to make the space between the teeth a certain proportionlarger than the tooth itself. This space increases as the teeth wear,and the result is that the backlash increases and the wheels run withmore or less play between the teeth, causing a rattling or rumblingsound, which is obnoxious, and many attempts have been made to overcomethese objections.

In carrying out my invention I provide What I term'a compensatinggear-wheel, which is practically made up of two gears of equal pitch anddiameter, arranged side by side and connected in any suitable manner, ashereinafter described, so that the objections above stated are avoided,and the teeth of the engaging gears will mesh properly with thecompensating gear-wheel, so as to have a relatively tight fit and avoidexcessive wear.

While my invention is designed more particularly for use in connectionwith electricmotor cars, where the noise is notoriously objectionable,it of course can be applied in many and various situations wherever itsshaft 2.

use is indicated, the principles of the invention being modified to suitthe requirements of any particular case.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a gear which forms a part of thecompensating gear-wheel and which is provided with teeth in the usualway and is adapted to be secured to a suitable shaft 2 by any propermeans, as

a key, so that it will rotate with the shaft.

Arranged adjacent to this gear is another gear 3, of similar shape andhaving similar teeth, but which is loosely mounted on the The two gearsare connected together so thatthereis a certain amount of axial movementbetween them, which movement may be about the width of the space betweenthe teeth, and while they may be connected by various means I have shownthe gear 3 as provided with a slot 4, through which a bolt5 -passesloosely and is screwed into the gear 1. The bolt is threaded at itsouter end and provided with a nut and washer to engage the side of gear3. There maybe one or more of these bolts, there being two shown in thedrawings, and it will be seen that the bolts prevent longitudinalmovement of the gear 3 on the shaft relatively to gear 1, but permit acertain amountof rotary movement thereon. Thetwogearscomposingthecompen-8o sating wheel are further connected by means of one or more springs,and in the present instance these are shown in the form of coiledsprings 6, and the adjacent faces of eachof the gears 1 3 are recesseddiagonally, as at7 8, such recesses being in alinement and formingapocket for the reception of the spring 6. When the teeth of the twogears l and 3 are in alinement, the spring or springs 6 are undercompression in their recesses andtend to throw the teeth of the twogears out of alinement, and so when a gear wheel or pinion engages thecompensating gear the teeth of this gear fit in the correspondingrecesses of the two gears 1 3, it being preferable that the 9 5 teethofthe engaging gear be as wide as the combined width of the two gears 13, although this is not necessary, as a narrower gear can be arranged toengage the teeth of both of the gears 1 3. With this arrangement it will:00 be evident that the teeth of the gear 1, for instance, will makecontact with the side or flank of the teeth of the engaging gear, whilethe teeth of the gear 3 will make contact on the opposite flank of thesame tooth of said gear-wheel 9, one being held against the same by thecompensating spring, depending, of course, upon whether the compensatinggear is the driving or the driven member. In other words, it will beseen that the teeth of gear 1, for instance, (which is fixed to theshaft 2,) will bear upon one side or flank of the teeth of the engaginggear, while the teeth of the gear 3 (which is loose on the shaft andunder. stress of the compensating spring) will bear on the opposite sideor fiank of the tooth of the engaging gear, so that the teeth of theengaging gear will fit tightly and yet without undue wear, and thespring will tend to compensate for any backlash due to wear or loose fitof the teeth, and the gears will run practically noiselessly, and theobjections heretofore pointed out will be overcome.

Itwillthus be seen that my compensating gear-wheel is composed of twolike gears placed side by side, which are loosely connected together topermit of rotary movement with relation to each other, but notlongitudinal movement, and are provided with co mpensating springstending to hold the teeth of the two gears out of alinement, and the twogears may be said to be elastically held in proper relations to eachother.

What I claim is l. A- compensating gear-wheel comprising two gears ofequal diameter, means for holding them together to permit a partialrotary but not longitudinal movement with relation to each other, thegears being provided with alining diagonal recesses in their adjacentfaces, and a spring mounted in said recesses tending to control therelations of the gears, substantially as described.

2. A compensating gear-wheel comprising two gears of equal diameterarranged side by side one of them being provided with an elongated slot,the other being provided with an opening, a-bolt secured in the openingand extending through the slot, the adjacent faces of the gears beingrecessed, and a spring seated in said recesses, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination with a shaft, of a compensating gear-wheel comprisingtwo gears of equal diameter arranged side by side on a shaft one ofwhich is fixed to the shaft and the other is loose thereon, means forconnecting the gears togetherto permit a partial rotary but notlongitudinal movement with relation to each other, and a spring seatedin a diagonally-disposed pocket formed in the adjacent faces of thegears for elastically controlling the relative relations of the twogears, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANZ BURGER.

Witnesses:

GEO. K. TORRENCE, J PW. HAYDEN.

